1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and systems of recycling and, more specifically, to a method and system of restricted substance management and recycling in a manufacturing corporate environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known for a vehicle manufacture to require information on restricted substances used in making components for a vehicle. In the past, a paper form having a number of questions and blank boxes were sent to suppliers to respond or report to the vehicle manufacturer regarding restricted substances and recycle content in components they supplied to the vehicle manufacturer. Once the forms were completed, the suppliers mailed or faxed them to the vehicle manufacturer. The vehicle manufacturer would review the completed forms for restricted substances. The completed forms were then stored in a box.
It is known that one vehicle manufacturer implemented a restricted substance recycling content system to gather information on restricted substances and recycle content from vehicle suppliers. This system, however, operated by mailing a computer disk to the vehicle suppliers who filled out information on the computer disk and mailed the computer disk back to the vehicle manufacturer. This system only collected recycled content amount of recycle in the component parts, not recyclibility of the material for the components.
Another system for collecting information on restricted substances is known. This system collects restricted substances information on vehicle components and collects recyclibility characteristics of the components to be recycled. The system allows one supplier to provide content data or information to the next tier upward. Each data set has a numeric identifier. The supplier, however, is able to conceal proprietary materials by listing them as miscellaneous content. The system suffers from the disadvantage that the vehicle manufacturer does not know what the miscellaneous content is.
One disadvantage of above systems is that they do not report accurately restricted substances and recycle content of components supplied to a vehicle manufacturer. Another disadvantage of the above systems is that they are manual based and not computer based. As a result, it is desirable to provide a method and system of restricted substance management and recycling in a manufacturing corporate environment. It is also desirable to provide a method of substance management and recycling that is computer based. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a method and system that meets these desires.